In crowded cities foot traffic proceeds with little guidance other than what a pedestrian can see in front of himself or herself. Having a person direct foot traffic in the middle of a crowded area, such as a subway exit area, may not be very practical. Giving further visual feedback through signage in these crowded areas has limitations, too. For example, a lot of visual information may already be present in the area, such that people may not be able to see further signage. As another example, other individuals of the crowd surrounding an individual may block vision (e.g., especially for the vision of a shorter individual). Also, people have other distractions like smartphones with directions and messages. Moreover, new digital signage is expensive to install and maintain.
Taking advantage of augmented reality channels and modalities like haptics may help guide people to areas with lighter foot traffic.